To Be or Not to Be
by Fantasiaa
Summary: A collection of No.6 drabbles. May or may not contain Nezumi x Sion. If you've got time to spare, come and read xD Even if you don't we'll still love you.
1. To Listen

**A/N:** So hey guys! I just rewatched the whole No.6 anime series in one day, and I am completely re-obsessed. So this will be a collection of my little drabbles or whatnot when I get struck by the random ray of inspiration. Some of them will contain hints at BL... maybe BIG hints of BL... but I'm getting a little ahead of myself, aren't I? (; Might change the rating to T later... Anyways, this one is completely innocent, so please enjoy! :3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own No.6 the anime, the manga, nor the light novels. Kinda wish I was that talented...

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><p><strong>I. To Listen<strong>

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><p>When Sion was three, he listened to his mother.<p>

_"Sion! Don't suck on your thumb, your hands aren't clean, remember?"_

"Okay, Mama."

The fingers he had stuck in his mouth promptly fell to their place by his side.

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><p>When Sion was five, he listened to his teacher.<p>

_"Sion! Stop looking out the window, and answer the question. What does two plus four equal?"_

"Yes, ma'am. Two plus four equals six."

_"Very good. Now class, what does ten minus three equal?"_

Sion's gaze never wandered back to the window for the rest of that day.

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><p>When Sion was eight, he started listening to his city.<p>

_"Good morning. Pledge unflagging loyalty to the city."_

The ID bracelet he had on his wrist was automatically scanned by the pre-programmed ID scanner.

"I pledge unflagging loyalty to the city."

_Beep. Beep._

_"The city is grateful for your loyalty. As you learn today, take pride in your city."_

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><p>When Sion was ten, he listened to the Moondrop.<p>

It was not the rain, but rather the distant wailing of the manmade structure that kept him up all night.

The next day, however, Sion was there at school right on time to pledge his loyalty to the city.

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><p>When Sion was twelve, he listened to the wind.<p>

How beautiful the sound was to his ears, a sound that could drown out his own untamed cries.

And on that day, with the wind rushing around his room,

When the soaking wet and bleeding boy named Nezumi appeared inside his open windows,

Sion listened to his own heart.

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><p><strong>AN:** yeaaah.. not quite sure if I'm pleased with how that turned out. might fix it later...  
>And dont worry, not all of them will be this short! (x<p>

Anyways, please review (even if this isn't much to base a review off of), because really, I'm a huge fan of reviews xD


	2. Solitude

**A/N:** Oh god, here's another one for you guys... lemme warn you, it's angsty. Very angsty. okay, fine, at least, I _tried_ to make it very angsty :3  
>There may be tiny <em>tiny<em> hints of NezuShi if you were to look very hard, under a microscope... but most likely not. (x Please enjoy!

**Summary:** Two days after the parasitic bee had almost killed Sion, all Nezumi can do is sink in the dreadful silence.

**Disclaimer: **I do not have anything to do with No.6, except for in my own fantasies... and my half-baked, fail-stories O.o

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><p><strong>II. Solitude<strong>

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><p>The silence was deafening.<p>

Candle light flickered around the cramped room, casting eerie shadows across every surface. Nobody was there to interrupt his train of thought, nobody was there to pester him with annoying, pointless questions, and nobody was there to completely catch him off guard the moment he thought he was in control.

And Nezumi hated it.

He hated this silence, this absence of life itself.

Nezumi shook his head, stopping himself from thinking the worst. He wasn't like this normally. He was the kind of person that forgot the past, and didn't think about the future. He lived for the present, in the moment, living just for the sake of living.

It bothered him to no end that this boy, this clueless, airheaded boy, could somehow completely shatter his entire way of life by just _being_ there. That he could make Nezumi start to think about the past, and worry about the future. That he could make the present _not enough_ for Nezumi.

It had been two days. Two days since he had cut the parasite bee from Sion's neck. And it had been two days since the silence had started haunting him. Because Sion, the naïve, energetic, curious, annoying, disgustingly cheerful Sion, had not woken up.

Nezumi looked up from his hands, hands that were cupping a mug of untouched hot chocolate that had already gone cold, and glanced over at the huddled form of his companion of only a few days. He was lying on the worn-out bed, covered by the thick blanket that Nezumi had draped over him, the steady rise and fall of his chest the only sign that he was still alive.

As much as he would never admit it, Nezumi was scared.

Scared that the moment would come when Sion's chest would stop moving, that when Nezumi checked his neck for a pulse, it would not be there. That the boy who had innocently saved his life four years ago would cease to live, after experiencing nothing that the world had to offer. Sion had to survive, Nezumi owed him that much.

A cracked, raspy laugh escaped his lips, his voice dry from being unused for two days. It was pathetic really. Since when did Nezumi just sit there and think? He was a doer, not a thinker. He does what he can, with regret never crossing his mind. So how come Sion had managed to reduce him to _this_ just by the simple act of being silent? He wondered how long it had been since he'd been so immobile. The answer came: Never.

Nezumi slowly heaved himself up from the couch he had been slouched in for the past three hours, his head going a little woozy from the sudden movement. He walked over to where Sion was lying, settling himself gently onto the edge of the bed so as not to cause the sleeping boy any discomfort. His hand moved of its own accord, reaching out to lightly trace the red scar on Sion's cheek that had formed as a result of the parasitic bee. His fingers brushed against the now snow white hair curling around Sion's ear, another reminder of the near-fatal incident that had happened two days ago. His mouth curled up in a little half smile, as he imagined what Sion's reaction would be when he woke up and saw the changes to his body. If he ever woke up at all, that is…

Nezumi's breath immediately caught, his hand suddenly going tense, the thoughts racing through his mind like water pouring over a waterfall. _Sion's body, rigid and unmoving, a hole being dug for Sion's grave, another parasitic bee crawling out of Sion's neck…_

He jumped up from the bed, clutching at his head, stumbling around the room. He needed something, anything, to rid himself of those images. Those images that could not possibly come true, those irrational fears that knew no end. He needed fresh air, he needed to move. If he stayed in this motherfucking _silent_ room any longer, he was going to go insane, tortured to lunacy by his own thoughts.

With one last look at the still form of Sion under the covers, Nezumi pushed open the door and headed out into the bitter night.

In truth, Nezumi longed for the sound of Shakespeare being recited by a voice filled with wonder, the sound of warm laughter followed by a contented sigh, the sound and comfort of another's presence.

And there was always that one question that Nezumi hated himself for not knowing the answer to. How had he become so damn _concerned_ for a person other than himself? What the hell was he doing, ignoring everything else for the slightest hope that Sion's eyes would suddenly flutter open, and that the now white-haired boy would turn to him with that stupid smile of his, and say, "_I'm okay, Nezumi_."?

Because as his way of living in solitude unravelled before his own eyes, Nezumi knew one thing.

Those with someone to protect always lose.

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><p><strong>Reply to <em>Anonymous<em>:** thankyou! I was experimenting with a new style, and that's what came out of it :)

**A/N: **Hmmm, I guess I just like writing short fics better...

Please review, they're the things that keep me going... like I'm walkin on sunshine... whaoooo... *stumbles off into the distance*


	3. Sometimes I Wonder

**A/N:** ahhh... I feel like it's taken me foreevverrr to get this uploaded... This story just really didnt want to cooperate with me -_-' Plus, with christmas break in two days, the teachers have been cramming all our tests, quizes, assignments, and lessons into these last few weeks. Plus we had all our summatives. PLUS I got sick. But none of you care so imma stop ranting now. Please enjoy! (:

**Summary:** Nezumi just wants his goddamned sleep, but Sion just has to wake him up... and why the hell is he crying?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own No.6, because if I did, it'd take Nezumi and Sion so long to get to the action that they'd probably die of old age.

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><p><strong>III. Sometimes I Wonder<strong>

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><p>The room was quiet, with the exception of the occasional rustling of a page being turned, and the muffled sound of mice burrowing around, most likely finding a comfortable place to sleep.<p>

The soft glow of the lamplight bathed the space in a warm embrace.

Nezumi had to admit, it was comfortable.

The day's performance, in addition to a little scuffle with Dogkeeper and her mangy dogs, had him slightly tired out. Nezumi figured it'd be fine if he let his eyelids fall closed, he was already lying on the bed anyways. He just needed to rest his eyes a bit, that was all. With one last glance at Sion sitting cross-legged on the floor reading some book or another, Nezumi let his mind go blank, his eyes resolutely shutting themselves, as if they couldn't bear to wait any longer.

Sleep was sweet.

That is, until…

Nezumi woke up just a few minutes later to the feel of something wet dripping on his cheek.

"What the hell…" he mumbled, wiping the moisture off his cheek, rubbing his bleary eyes, vowing to _destroy_ whatever that had just woken him up.

His vision going in and out of focus, he could slightly make out a mop of messy white hair and wide ruby eyes right above him. _Sion…_

"I fucking swear Sion, if you tried to pour water on me again, I _will_ kill you this time… in slow, excruciatingly painful ways." Nezumi growled, the irritation clear in his voice.

He reached up to shove the white-haired boy away from him, but two inches away from Sion's chest, his hand abruptly stopped.

_Sniffle. Sniffle._

Was Sion… crying?

Nezumi slowly sat up, his hand now reaching towards Sion's face instead of pushing him away, his fingers unintentionally gentle as they came into contact with the warm flow of tears trickling down the boy's cheek, running down his chin, and dripping onto the bed where Nezumi had been lying earlier.

Nezumi completely forgot about his earlier frustration. His other hand moved of its own accord, lightly cupping Sion's face, thumbs wiping the streams of tears to the side. His vision had finally cleared, and he could see all too clearly what a mess Sion had become. Tears were absolutely _overflowing_ out of his eyes, his chin quivering, his brows creased, his shoulders hunched. In the back of his mind, Nezumi was probably just a little bothered that Sion still managed to look like a freaking nice, innocent little boy, even when he was crying like there'd be no tomorrow. But he decided he wouldn't dwell on that.

"Sion, what happened?" Nezumi asked, his voice sounding a lot softer than he had meant for it to.

There was a momentary pause, twilight-coloured irises searching soft ruby orbs for an answer, for some sort of clue as to what could have happened during the few minutes of light slumber Nezumi had managed to sneak in.

Then, Sion's trembling hands slowly raised the book he had been clutching, level with Nezumi's face for him to inspect. The navy-haired boy had to lean back to focus on the cover.

_William Shakespeare's ROMEO and JULIET._

"..they..Romeo loved her!... but they…Juliet… couldn't… it was their family… but… Romeo thought she t-took the poison, so he came and killed hi-himself…. But, she… she wasn't… and she woke u-up! But R-Romeo was already… he already died! Then she... sh-she… she..," Sion wailed, between hiccups and sniffs and gasps, before succumbing to a fresh wave of tears.

Nezumi blinked.

His mind was blank.

Like really, you could hear the tumbleweed blowing around in there.

It didn't make sense. What did Romeo and Juliet have to do with Sion crying so hard it looked like everyone he loved had just been burnt to ashes in a freak house fire?

It couldn't only be the play that had affected him so much, right?

It just couldn't… it shouldn't!

But it was.

Holy_ shit_.

Nezumi honestly thought a little piece of his soul had crumbled away. He had been woken up, shocked out of his mind, and had even shown his damn _concern_! He had gone out of his way to be caring, when all it was about was fucking ROMEO AND JULIET?

"You're a waste of a life Sion. Don't ever talk to me again." he said flatly, flopping back onto the bed. He turned onto his side, back facing Sion, and prepared to fall into deep sleep.

The sniffing and jerky breaths stopped.

Nezumi's mouth curled up in a self congratulating smile of victory. _He got what he deserved, that overdramatic little bastard…_

Perhaps, Nezumi did feel a little guilty, just a little sorry for not saying anything more to Sion, for leaving him with those words, open for interpretation. Maybe he should have explained that he was kidding, that he hadn't really meant what he had just said. The guilt soon disappeared however, when, two seconds later, the brat climbed up onto the bed and _sat _on him.

"What the hell do you want from me, Sion?" Nezumi snarled, propping himself up on his elbows , twisting around to try to find a better position to punch Sion.

They boy, however, appeared to have not noticed his intentions, or just blatantly ignored them, and scooted further up Nezumi's legs, stopping at his waist, content to settle comfortably in Nezumi's lap.

"Don't you think Romeo and Juliet is the saddest, most beautiful play ever written? I can't believe I never knew about it in No.6… Shakespeare truly is an amazing playwright, don't you think?" Sion gushed, pointing at the book in his hands as if Nezumi needed another reminder of what they were discussing that the moment. The tears seemed to have completely ceased to exist, not a trace of their presence left where they had once flourished.

Nezumi sighed in defeat.

He was obviously not going to get the sleep he achingly craved for anytime soon.

"Sion, if you want me to tell you the truth, what my opinion really is, I'll tell you. Romeo and Juliet was the worst play ever written. Honestly, after reading it, my respect for Shakespeare completely disappeared for a week. They meet each other, Romeo supposedly falls in love with her, and after five days of their so called _fateful encounter,_ they kill themselves for each other. Isn't that just insanely realistic."

"But… a lot of people say it was the greatest love story ever written, and I personally think it is incredibly touching and –"

"That's because you're an airheaded brat."

"Hey!"

"Any sane person would know that love doesn't happen that way. Their supposed 'love' for each other lasted all of five days, in which they didn't think things out rationally, tried to get married secretly, and killed themselves after a series of misunderstandings. They were just two teenagers with cotton candy for brains."

"I don't know Nezumi… I mean, aren't we sort of like them?"

Nezumi halted, the words he had prepared to shoot back evaporating like a puddle on a sunny day.

They… he and Sion… were like Romeo and Juliet?

Nezumi's mouth hung open halfway, all pretences and irritation forgotten, pure surprise and incredulity taking over his features.

When he finally managed to regain control of his motor abilities, he realized he was blushing.

"Wh-what the hell? In what sick way are we the like Romeo and Juliet, the very symbols of true love?" Nezumi spluttered, trying to hide the deep red spreading across his cheeks.

"Well, I mean, Romeo and Juliet were both young when they first met too, right?" Sion continued, completely unfazed.

"And_ that_ was what made you believe we were like them. Congratulations on your resounding victory in being the biggest idiot of the year." Nezumi said flatly, saddened at Sion's apparent lack of brain cells.

"No, no, that's not all! We were both born to people that were pitted against each other, you to the forest folk, and me to the residents of No.6. The day we met was completely coincidental, and just like Romeo and Juliet, it changed both our lives forever, didn't it?"

Nezumi merely grumbled at this.

"Maybe four years was a lot longer than a few days, and maybe our balcony scene was a little different from –"

"Our balcony scene? Excuse me? Since when have we had a balcony scene?" Nezumi managed to choke out, fairly certain he had never compared Sion to the sun, and then confessed his undying love to the white haired boy under his balcony.

"Well, you did appear on my balcony remember? Although you certainly were a lot more physical than Romeo was when you came …" Sion reminisced, smiling warmly.

Nezumi choked again. His whole body shook with his coughing fit, his eyes watering, breath coming in gasps.

_"You certainly were a lot more physical when you came"?_

Sion honestly had no idea what he was saying, did he?

Now Nezumi was more cackling with mirth than choking, having slight difficulties with breathing. Briefly, he wondered if he would die if he couldn't stop laughing.

But seriously, who in the world but him could say _that_ with a straight face?

Nezumi decided he would need to teach Sion a lesson on innuendos later, the boy desperately needed it.

A pair of hands shaking his shoulders quite violently made his mind snap back to the present, where a round pair of worried crimson eyes stared at him intently.

"Are you okay, Nezumi? Do you need first aid? Should I do the Heimlich manoeuvre? But you didn't even have anything in your mouth that you could have choked on…"

"Ahaahaha... hahaa… nothing in my mouth I could've choked on, huh? That's okay, I only take as much as I can handle." Nezumi said, snickering to himself.

"What?"

"Ahhh… nevermind Sion… do go on."

"Well, as I was saying, we even had our own balcony scene," started Sion, before he was rudely cut off by another burst of snickering from Nezumi. Sion chose to ignore him, and continued on earnestly. "I know I would do anything for you, and I wouldn't let anything tear us apart. And just like Romeo and Juliet, I want us to be together till the very end, Nezumi."

The white haired boy's gaze was way too sincere for Nezumi's liking.

"So… you're saying you want us to die together? To kill ourselves for each other?" Nezumi replied after a slight pause, deciding to keep a light tone to his voice, masking the unwelcome surge of warmth that had rushed into his heart at Sion's words.

When had the conversation suddenly turned so serious?

"No. That's the part where we're different from them. We won't die for each other, or die together. We'll live, Nezumi. Isn't that what you taught me? We will live for each other, and live our lives together. We will be bonded by life, not by death."

Nezumi's eyes widened.

And Sion chose that moment to place both his hands on Nezumi's shoulders, the book he had held in them already long discarded.

"I love you Nezumi. And I don't need to prove that through death. Because we'll both continue living." Sion said softly, resolution settling itself in his eyes.

Nezumi wondered what the hell had just happened.

He wondered how Sion managed to turn a completely irrelevant conversation into one that made him _feel_ so much in just a few sentences.

He wondered how those simple words coming out of Sion's mouth could fill him with joy, without him giving them any permission to.

He wondered how it was possible for the warmth that had spread through his body to also make his chest ache so terribly.

He wondered why his heart was taking the three little words, probably carelessly thrown into Sion's sentence, so completely wrong.

He wondered why, suddenly, sleep didn't seem so important anymore.

Most of all, he wondered why his arms moved of their own accord, without paying heed to his mind telling them to stop, stop it before it was too late.

So he decided to not wonder about anything at all, and instead, he let himself pull Sion closer, ignoring the wide eyed look the boy was giving him, wrapping an arm around his waist, tilting his chin up, and covered his lips with his own.

He decided to think about his actions later.

_Besides, I can just write it off as a "shut up" kiss._

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><p><strong>Reply to Monique:<strong> aww thanks, I will (:

**A/N:** Mehh... :/ It's amazing how a story can change so much from how you originally planned it.  
>*EDIT* I re-read this, and I realized the flow was really off, so I tried fixing it.. didn't really do much though. x_x<br>So, even though I think this one sort of sucked, I hope somehow you enjoyed, and please review! :3


	4. Surprises

**A/N: **Something I wrote quite a while ago, really short, and really required no imagination or creativity, now that I read it again (x

**Summary:** What is there to say? Nezumi thinking about Sion.. like always.

**Disclaimer****:** I wonder if I have to write one of these in every drabble I post.. seems kind of redundant, don't you think?  
>No.6 is in no way mine, if it were, it'd be written in English so I could read all the novels without waiting for other people to translate them TT_TT<p>

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><p><strong>IV.<strong> Surprises

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><p>There were all kinds of people in the world.<p>

People that were really intelligent, people that were wise, people that were clever, and people that just seemed to be experienced in all aspects of life.

Then there were the people that were naïve, the people that were ignorant, or the people that were just plain stupid.

But Sion.

Sion was on a whole other level, all to himself.

No, Sion didn't even have a level, he _transcended _levels.

He was the kind of being that could make a normally level headed person begin to question the existence of realism itself.

Sion at first glance was the smartest kid Nezumi ever knew, or could ever hope to know. He could easily explain macromolecule blotting and probing for the hybridisation of blotted DNA, and how to use allele specific oligonucleotide to detect single base mutations, without batting a single eyelash.  
>He knew how many heart beats a minute a healthy human should have, under normal circumstances in a neutral environment, and he knew how to perform biopsies on humans and five other species of mammals.<br>He was on his way to enrol in No.6's Special Curriculum program, and had a pretty little future planned out ahead of him.

But then, on the other hand, Sion had to be the dumbest, most clueless kid Nezumi had ever met.  
>It was a wonder that Sion had even managed to function as a working member of society before Nezumi took him under his wing (what a gracious, most unfitting way of describing their relationship. There certainly was no "taking under the wing". It was more like "oh here's the pitiful little boy that saved my life four years ago, let's not leave him to die").<br>Sion had, as far as Nezumi knew, just about no street smarts, and even less tact and shame.  
>He easily turned his back to Nezumi, without the fear of ever being attacked, or abandoned.<p>

And just when he seems to be the most vulnerable, he always goes and does something completely unexpected, catching Nezumi off guard, unprepared.

Somehow, Sion could always surprise Nezumi.

And in Nezumi's world, surprises got you killed.

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><p><strong>AN:** Aren't I so creative in thinking up titles...


	5. Did You Know?

**A/N: **It's been so long. I'm almost ashamed to put this thing up. I dunno.

**Summary: **Nezumi. Post-anime.

**Disclaimer:** I'm sure you all know by now xD

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><p><strong>V. Did You Know?<strong>

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><p>Hey, did you know, Sion?<p>

Did you know that the sun still rises and sets? Always, always, never stopping in its path from east to west, day to day, week to week, year to year, casting shadows upon the ground, marking the hours, the minutes, the seconds.

Did you know that the moon doesn't actually produce any light by itself? It merely reflects the light of the sun, but despite that, it's still happy just to be able to provide some light during the bitterness of the night. And you know? Nobody ever goes out to admire a full sun. It's always a full moon, isn't it?

Did you know that it takes millions of years for a star's light to reach us here on earth? So by the time we wish on one, it may already be gone?

And, did you know, Sion?

That a heart, no matter how much pain, loneliness, and frigid misery it's been through, will always keep on beating?

You probably already knew.

So tell me Sion, how come I've only realized this now?

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><p>Please review! Critique is welcome (:<p> 


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